Prophet Hosea: The Prophet of God's Unlimited Love
Hosea was a son of Beeri who preached in the northern
kingdom of Israel after prophet Amos. This was during the troubled times before
the fall of Samaria in 721 BC.
The Lord gave His message to Hosea during the time that
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and Jeroboam the son of
Jehoash was the king of Israel.
Hosea was especially concerned about the idolatry of the
people and their faithlessness towards God. He illustrated this faithlessness
through his own disastrous marriage to an unfaithful woman named Gomer.
Through his marriage relationship, Hosea came to
understand and explain God's relationship with His own people. Therefore, his
marriage was a symbolic marriage with prophetic meaning and message to the
people of Israel
Hosea is referred to as a prophet of God's unlimited
love. During his ministry, he showed the undying love Yahweh had for His own
people who continued to be sinful and unrepentant.
He was a person with deep passion and feeling for the
people of Israel. For this reason, Hosea looked forward to the people's
repentance in order for them to be pared from God's judgement and destruction.
Hosea hated to see the sinfulness and rebellion of the
people of Israel. He saw that this would lead into their punishment thus he
urged the people to change their heart and turn back to God.
Like the other prophets, Hosea saw the failure of the
Israelites to follow and obey the commands of the Lord, warned them, showed how
much God loved them and talked about restoration after their punishment and a
return from exile life.
HOSEA'S SYMBOLIC MARRIAGE AND ITS PROPHETIC MESSAGE
(Hosea 1:2-9,2:2-23 and 3:1-5)
Hosea's marriage to Gomer was symbolical to explain the
relationship between G and Israel as was established during the Sinai covenant.
Hosea in this passage represented Yahweh the God of
Israel and Gomer symbolized the people of Israel.
The marriage between Hosea and Gomer symbolized the
covenant which God made with the people of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Just like God expected the covenant He had made with His
own people to be permanent Hosea's marriage to Gomer was expected to be
permanent.
In this marriage, the unfaithfulness of Gomer meant that
the people of Israel had become unfaithful to God.
The children who were to be like their mother showed how
the successive generations in Israel behaved in an unfaithful way like their
fore fathers.
In this marriage, Hosea and Gomer had three children
meaning that the people of Israel had continued to multiply as God had promised
in the Sinai covenant.
The blessing of Hosea and his wife Gomer with three
children meant that the people of Israel continued to multiply as part of the
blessings God had promised during the Sinai Covenant.
The first child, a son was named "Jezreel".
This name was interpreted to mean that the Lord would punish the king of Israel
for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel.
The second child, a daughter was named
"Unloved". This meant that the Lord would no longer show love to the
people of Israel or forgive them.
The third child, a son was named
"Not-my-People" meaning that God had rejected Israel as His covenant
people. He was no longer their God.
Hosea's wife, Gomer turned out to be an adulterous woman
and a prostitute. In the same way, Israel had turned to and worshipped other
gods.
Hosea asked his children to plead with their mother to
stop her adultery and prostitution. This symbolized God asking the prophets to
plead with Israel to stop worshipping other gods and turn back to the Sinai Covenant.
Hosea divorced his wife, Gomer. She was no longer his
wife meaning that God had abandoned Israel. Therefore, they were no longer His
covenant people.
Hosea promised to strip his wife, Gomer as naked as she
was on the day she was born meaning that God was determined to punish Israel.
Besides, Hosea promised to be merciless to the children
of Gomer, for they were the children of a shameless prostitute. This meant that
God would be merciless to the descendants of Israel. He was now determined to
punish them because their mother turned to other gods.
Hosea claimed that his wife, Gomer was going to her
lovers because of food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine. This
showed the materialistic nature of Israel. She turned to other gods because of
such material benefits.
Gomer continued with her adultery and prostitution
despite Hosea's plea through his children. This meant that Israel continued to
worship other gods even though God had requested them through His prophets to
stop doing so.
For her continued unfaithfulness, Hosea promised to fence
his wife, Gomer with thorn bushes and build a wall t~ block her way. This meant
that God would protect Israel from going
to other gods.
The children who were to be like their mother showed how
the successive generations in Israel behaved in an unfaithful way like their
fore fathers.
In this marriage, Hosea and Gomer had three children
meaning that the people of Israel had continued to multiply as God had promised
in the Sinai covenant.
The blessing of Hosea and his wife Gomer with three
children meant that the people of Israel continued to multiply as part of the
blessings God had promised during the Sinai Covenant.
The first child, a son was named "Jezreel". This
name was interpreted to mean that the Lord would punish the king of Israel for
the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel.
The second child, a daughter was named
"Unloved". This meant that the Lord would no longer show love to the
people of Israel or forgive them.
The third child, a son was named
"Not-my-People" meaning that God had rejected Israel as His covenant
people. He was no longer their God.
Hosea's wife, Gomer turned out to be an adulterous woman
and a prostitute. In the same way, Israel had turned to and worshipped other
gods.
Hosea asked his children to plead with their mother to
stop her adultery and prostitution. This symbolized God asking the prophets to
plead with Israel to stop worshipping other gods and turn back to the Sinai
Covenant.
Hosea divorced his wife, Gomer. She was no longer his
wife meaning that God had abandoned Israel. Therefore, they were no longer His
covenant people.
Hosea promised to strip his wife, Gomer as naked as she
was on the day she was born meaning that God was determined to punish Israel.
Besides, Hosea promised to be merciless to the children
of Gomer, for they were the children of a shameless prostitute. This meant that
God would be merciless to the descendants of Israel. He was now determined to
punish them because their mother turned to other gods.
Hosea claimed that his wife, Gomer was going to her
lovers because of food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine. This
showed the materialistic nature of Israel. She turned to other gods because of
such material benefits.
Hosea felt pain to see his wife leave him and go to other
men. This signified the divine sorrow of God as He saw the people He loved so
much turning to other gods.
Gomer continued with her adultery and prostitution despite
Hosea's plea through his children. This meant that Israel continued to worship
other gods even though God had requested them through His prophets to stop
doing so.
For her continued unfaithfulness, Hosea promised to fence
his wife, Gomer with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way. This meant
that God would protect Israel from going to other gods.
Hosea said that Gomer would run after her lovers but
without catching them. She would look for them but would not find them. This
meant that Israel would no longer find the gods they once worshipped.
Gomer would decide to go back to Hosea, her first
husband. She realized that she was better off with him. This showed that Israel
would turn back to God.
Hosea said that his wife, Gomer would never acknowledge
him as the one who gave corn, wine and all the silver and gold that she used in
Baal worship. This meant that Israelites had failed to acknowledge God's
provision to them.
Hosea promised to take away his gifts of corn and wine
and wool and linen. This showed that God would withdraw blessings from the
people of Israel.
Hosea promised to punish his wife for the times she
forgot him particularly when she burnt incense to Baal and put on her jewellery
to go chasing after lovers. This meant that God was going to punish the people
of Israel.
Hosea promised that he would put an end to all her
festivities which meant that there would be suffering and Israel would not have
time to celebrate.
Hosea promised to take his wife into the desert again and
win her back using words of love. This meant that God would take Israel away
from the presence of other gods.
Gomer would respond to Hosea as they had just started.
This showed that Israel would once again respond to God as she did when she
came out of Egypt.
Gomer would once again call Hosea her husband meaning
that Israel would once again turn to and worship the Lord.
The Lord commanded Hosea to again go and show his love
for Gomer who had continued with adultery. This symbolized God's continued and
unlimited love for Israel even though they continued to turn to other gods.
Hosea paid fifteen pieces of silver and 150 kilogrammes
of barley in order to buy Gomer back to him. This signified God's continued
effort to have Israel as His covenant people.
Hosea told Gomer that she would have to wait for a long
time for him without being a prostitute or committing adultery. In the same
way, the Lord would wait for Israel. They would live for a long time without
kings or leaders, idols or images to use for divination.
The remarriage between Hosea and Gomer meant that God and
Israel would once again come to understand and recognize one another.
The Lord promised Hosea a better future for the people of
Israel. They would live in peace and safety.
He would show them His constant love and mercy and make
them his people forever. In turn, the people would acknowledge him as the Lord.
The name of Hosea's children would change for the better
meaning that God was now willing to restore the covenant relationship with His
own people.
The name "Jezreel" would change to
"Prosperity" to mean that the Lord would make Israel prosper again as
His covenant people.
The name "Unloved" would become
"Loved" meaning that the Lord would once again show love to those who
were unloved.
"Not-my-People" would turn to
"My-People" meaning that the Lord would once again make Israel His
own people.
Revision Questions
1.
"Hosea’s marriage to Gomer is a
dramatization of the Sinai covenant" Discuss.
2.
"God's relation with the people
of Israel was illustrated in the family experience of Hosea" Discuss.
3.
Justify the view than Hosea’s marriage
of Gomer is the key to the understanding of the whole book.
4.
How did Hosea portray God's message to
the people of Israel through his children?
5.
How did Hosea use his marriage to show
the relationship between God and Israel?
6.
"God's relationship with the
people of Israel was demonstrated in the family experience of Hosea"
Comment
7.
Explain the meaning of Hosea's
children to the people of Israel.
8.
What do the names of Hosea I s
children teach about the nature of God?
9.
Examine the ways in which Hosea I s
marriage and his family experience portray the nature of
•
God
•
Man
10.
The prophesy of Hosea is a
dramatization of the Sinai covenant". Discuss
To a large extent
Hosea’s prophesies as a demonstration of Sinai covenant. Discuss the symbolic
marriage
However to a small extent his prophesies reflected other
aspects.
· Opposed
and condemned the behaviour of priests
· He
prophesied the messages of hope and restoration.
· He
talked about God's judgement and punishment.
· He
talked about God's love for Israel.
· Condemned
the people's insincere worship.
· Hosea
condemned pagan worship in Israel
God's condemnation
of or accusation against Israel
(HOSEA
4:1 ff, 5: 1 ff, 6:1 ff, 7:1 ff, 8:1 ff, 9:1 ff)
The Sins or Evils
of Israel
The people of Israel hated each other instead of showing
love. It was this reason that they treated each other unfairly.
There was Baal worship among the Israelites. Hosea observed
this kind of worship had pushed Yahweh far away from the people.
There was also idol worship among the Israelites. It had
become the order of the day. Therefore, they had defiled themselves.
The Israelites were guilty of making promises and
breaking them. By doing so, they had become liars.
The people of Israel had also become too arrogant. Hosea
observed that their arrogance cried against them but they were not mindful of
what they were doing.
The people of Israel kept turning away from the Lord to
other gods. Like a woman who became a prostitute, they gave themselves to other
powerless gods. Therefore, they were as unreliable as a crooked bow.
The people of Israel were insincere in their prayer. They
could throw themselves down and wail as the heathen could do.
The people of Israel plotted against the Lord even though
He was the one who brought them up and made them strong. Therefore, they had
become rebels.
There was insincere offering of sacrifices among the
Israelites. They could take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to
the Lord but could not do any good for them.
The people of Israel became unfaithful to the Lord. For
this reason, their children did not belong to Him thus they would be destroyed.
The Israelites were involved in murder. This was to the
extent that they could kill one person after another.
The people of Israel were guilty of committing adultery.
For this reason, there was no faithfulness in their marriages.
There was pagan worship among the people of Israel. The prophet
noted that the people could ask for, revelations from a piece of wood, that a
stick could tell them what they wanted to know.
The daughters of the people of Israel served as
prostitutes. They had copied the examples of their parents who went with temple
prostitutes.
The people were over drinking wine. Hosea observed that
wine both old and new had robbed the Lord's people of their senses.
The people of Israel refused to acknowledge the Lord,
their God and rejected His teaching as well. For this reason, the Lord also
rejected them.
There was discrimination in places of worship. The
priests in particular were favouring the rich at the expense of the poor.
Hosea saw that the people of Israel were stealing. This
had seen crimes increase day by day
Hosea condemned Israel for making political alliance. She
turned to Assyria for help after seeing how sick she was. The people went to
the extent of paying other nations to protect them. This was lack of trust in
the Lord.
The people of Israel cheated one another by breaking into
the houses to steal and robbing on the streets.
The people of Israel conspired against their own rulers
and had them killed. They deceived their king with their evil plots.
Consequently, kings were assassinated one after another.
The people of Israel chose their own kings and appointed
leaders without the approval of the Lord
The Israelites were involved in religious syncretism. In
doing so the prophet noted that the people had forgotten about Yahweh.
Revision Questions
1.
Account for Hosea’s condemnation of
the people of Israel
2.
Why would Hosea condemn the people of
Uganda?
3.
Justify Hosea's accusation against the
people of Israel
4.
The Lord says "when Israel was a
child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son (Hosea 11: 1)
(a) Explain
the circumstances which compelled Hosea to utter this statement
(b) What
lessons can modern Christians learn from this statement in regards to
relationship with God?